Housebuilders have come out swinging against critics of the Government’s controversial Help to Buy policy after reports the scheme could be ditched or scaled back over worries it is stoking property prices and failing to reach the worthiest recipients.

The Government flagship housing policy, Help to buy needs to be dramatically reformed in order to stop housebuilders from using it to boost their profits irrespective of how many homes they build, according Northern firm Avant Homes.

The UK’s largest housebuilder, Barratt Developments, expects the Government’s Help to Buy scheme to be extended for a second time, as it hailed strong demand for homes and a “healthy” order book for the year ahead.

Bellway has built a record number of homes and raked in more profits on the back of strong consumer demand for its homes, low interest rates and the Government's Help to Buy scheme.
The housebuilder, which operates across the UK, said its pre-tax profits rose 12.6pc to £560.7m in the 12 months to July 31. Revenues also increased by 14.2pc, rising for the eighth consecutive year.

Scarborough International Properties has released exclusive images of a new show apartment due to open this weekend at the £1bn Middlewood Locks development in Salford.
The apartment shows what buyers can expect when buying a two-bedroom apartment at the much-anticipated waterfront scheme for which the first release has already sold out.

Profits at Barratt Developments are expected to rise this year after it built its highest number of homes for nine years.
The buoyant property market, fuelled by low interest rates, the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, and a continued aspiration to home ownership, means Barratt sold more homes at higher prices despite wider market volatility.

The latest data released by HM Treasury has shown that the government has now supported more than one million people through its Help to Buy schemes, including 868,240 who have opened Help to Buy: ISAs offering government bonuses of up to £3000 for those buying their first home.

The Government must work out a way to “sensibly exit” its Help to Buy home buying policy in order to protect housebuilders, Bellway has warned.
Ted Ayres, the firm’s chief executive, said he had had meetings with communities secretary Sajid Javid about the end of the programme, which provides equity loans to first time buyers and is due to be wound up in 2021.

One in three new build properties outside London were bought through a flagship scheme for first-time buyers, but just one in 10 in the capital, analysis by BBC News shows.
The Help to Buy Equity Loan was introduced to boost the housing market.

When putting pen to paper to buy a new home, most people expect to know how much they will need to pay to own it outright. But thousands of families in England and Wales are discovering the houses they bought are not all they seemed.
Katie Kendrick bought her home from Bellway in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, three years ago for £214,000.